Easy cleaning guide
1. Basic ingredients of the cleaning cabinet
You don’t need much to keep your home nice and clean. Here are the basics.
Cleaning agents
These three cleaning products you should get:
- Hand dish detergent (look for käsiastianpesuaine or käsitiskiaine) –> use for dishes
- General cleaning agent (look for yleispuhdistusaine) –> use for all stains and surfaces in kitchen, bathroom and other rooms
- Toilet bowl cleaner (look for wc-puhdistaja, wc-puhdistusaine, wc-puhdistusgeeli or wc-pesuaine) –> use for the toilet bowl
Cleaning equipment
Most of the basic cleaning equipment are already in the apartment and you only need to purchase a few by yourself or together with your roommates.
In the apartment by Hoas
- Vacuum cleaner and dust bags
- Mop and bucket
- Broom and dustpan
- Toilet bowl brush
- Shower floor wiper
Must be purchased by tenants
- Dish-cloth or microfiber cloth
- Dish brush
2. What to clean and when
Daily
- Clean up crumbs and other food scraps after preparing or eating food
- Oven, stove and countertop –> clean after every use with a cloth and general cleaning agent
- Important especially in shared kitchens
- Keep clutter to a minimum
Weekly
- Take the trash to the waste room – read our tips and tricks for waste sorting!
- Vacuum floors and carpets
- Clean the bathroom: sink, faucets, toilet (inside, outside, and the toilet bowl – remember all the layers of the seat!)
- Go through the fridge and throw expired food away. If needed, defrost and clean the appliance (instructions).
- Clean the microwave
- Change towels in bathroom and kitchen, change bed linen every two weeks
At times
- Wipe the floor with a slightly damp mop (never pour water to the floor)
- Dust surfaces
Extra tips
- When ventilating for fresh air in winter, only keep windows open for a short cross draft and close windows soon after (never leave windows open for a long time!)
- If the kitchen sink doesn’t drain properly, try to open it with chemicals (instructions) before making a fault report. Don’t open the kitchen drain trap by yourself!
- Clean the bathroom floor drain from time to time to prevent it from clogging (instructions).
- Only throw wc paper to the bowl, everything else goes to the trash bin
- Remember the fault report form; if something is broken, please make a fault report on MyHoas